The Gift

Joel Edgerton’s directorial debut, The Gift follows Jason Bateman’s Simon and Rebecca Hall’s Robyn as they’re embroiled in a game of psychological warfare after an old schoolmate of Simon’s (Joel Edgerton’s Gordo) arrives on the scene. It’s the kind of setup that’s typically employed in the context of an entertaining yet far-from-fresh “blank from hell” thriller (eg The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, The Temp, Unlawful Entry, etc, etc) and yet writer/director Edgerton does a superb job of ultimately subverting one’s expectations, as The Gift, though saddled with a rather familiar opening hour, eventually moves into a third act that’s riddled with impossible-to-predict surprises and plot twists. Edgerton’s slow-burn sensibilities ensure that the film, in its early stages, benefits substantially from the mystery surrounding Gordo’s true intentions (ie the character doesn’t do anything truly menacing until around the halfway mark), while the sporadic inclusion of impressively tense sequences (eg Robyn becomes convinced that someone is in the house with her) slowly-but-surely ratchets up the movie’s vibe of high tension. It’s clear, too, that The Gift receives plenty of mileage from the central actors’ stellar work within their respective roles, with, especially, Hall bringing far more depth to the proceedings than one has come to expect from such a storyline. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that Bateman, Hall, and Edgerton are backed up by an impressively stellar supporting cast that includes Wendell Pierce, Allison Tolman, and P.J. Byrne.) And although Edgerton is occasionally just a little too lackadaisical in his execution (ie the movie’s third act could’ve easily been tightened), The Gift nevertheless comes off as an engaging, innovative thriller that bodes well for Edgerton’s future endeavors behind the camera.

***1/2 out of ****